Conventional high-leg reclining chairs have exposed legs 7"-8"long and high wing backs. They are either two-way or three-way operation activated by pushing on the arms for TV and full-recline positions. They are produced in two sizes, three-way mechanisms in the larger chairs and two-way mechanisms in the smaller chairs. The difference in the sizes of the two types of chairs is approximately three inches, measured from the front of the arm to the rear of the arm. The length of the arm is important to the three-way mechanism due to the movement of the center of gravity of the chair plus occupant from upright to full recline. This can cause the chair to tip backward if the arm is too short.
Also, conventional two-way and three-way high-leg recliner chair mechanisms conventionally require different frames and the mechanisms have few common parts. This becomes important when tooling new mechanisms and inventorying components for mechanisms or frames. Other complaints with existing mechanisms include linkages visible under the chair, ottomans drooping, and backs loose in the upright position.
The terms "two-way" and "three-way" are not to be confused with the term "three-position".
A three-position recliner is one which has a fully-erect, upright position in which the back is erect and the leg-rest is fully stowed, an intermediate (or "TV") position in which the back remains erect, or nearly so, but the leg-rest is at least partly raised and extended, and a reclining position, in which the back is tilted backwards and down, and the leg-rest is fully extended and raised.
A three-position chair can have either two-way or three-way operation. If the chair has two-way operation, usually the seat is fixed in relation to the back, so that the angle between them remains the same during tilting and erecting. However, if the chair has three-way operation, as the chair moves from the TV position to the fully-reclined position, the upper end of the chair back tilts down and backwards relative to the seat, and back up as the chair moves from the fully-reclined position to the TV position. Generally in a chair having two-way operation, framing components unite the chair back and seat into a common structure.